Amendment 4- Amendment to Limit Government Interference with Abortion
Please note that there is a lawsuit involving this amendment which states that multiple state laws were broken during the signature gathering phase for this amendment. This case may not be decided before the November election, so vote as if your vote will count.
BALLOT LANGUAGE
WHAT IT MEANS
Yes
No
ARGUMENTS FOR AND AGAINST
Yes
- “The overwhelming majority of Floridians think we should all have the freedom to make our own personal health care decisions without interference from politicians. Despite that, politicians have again denied Floridians the right to control their own bodies and lives, approving a six-week abortion ban. It bans abortion before many people even realize they are pregnant and leaves little time to get care under Florida’s two-trip requirement. Help put these decisions back in the hands of Florida families and their doctors, not politicians.” - Floridians Protecting Freedom
-
“70% of Florida voters–including Republicans, Democrats, and Independents alike–are in favor of guaranteeing abortion. However, Florida politicians have once again denied Floridians the right to control their own bodies and lives. In April, the Florida legislature passed a law banning abortion at 6 weeks with very limited and cumbersome provisions or exceptions. It bans abortion before many people even realize they are pregnant and leaves little time to get care under Florida’s two-trip requirement. Together, we can put these important decisions back in the hands of Florida families and their doctors, not politicians.” - Florida Women’s Freedom Coalition
-
“In just one month under Florida’s abortion ban Planned Parenthood health centers have already seen a tremendous amount of harm done to their patients. The opportunity for Floridians to end this government-manufactured public health crisis and get politicians out of our personal, private decisions once and for all by passing Amendment 4 couldn’t come at a more pressing time.” - Florida Alliance of Planned Parenthood Affiliates
- “The “Amendment to Limit Government Interference with Abortion” will transfer power from politicians back into the hands of Floridians. Year after year Florida lawmakers have implemented increasingly drastic restrictions on abortion access — even though Floridians don’t support them. Passage of this constitutional amendment will establish an explicit right to abortion and ensure that Floridians’ reproductive freedom is codified into law and no longer subject to the whims of extremist politicians and judges.” - League of Women Voters of Florida
-
“The initiative on the November 2024 ballot is an amendment to the State of Florida Constitution and would reverse Florida’s new extreme six-week abortion ban that puts women’s health at risk and interferes with private medical decisions. The dangerous ban was passed by the Florida legislature and signed by the governor earlier in the year. Amendment 4 would eliminate the ban and ensure a woman can keep important private medical decisions between herself, her family and doctor.” - United Healthcare Workers East
No
- “Unlike other Amendments, Amendment 4 does not define any of its key terms. For example, it does not define “viability,” “health care provider,” “patient’s health,” or how serious a health concern would need to be to allow exceptions for late-term abortions. These uncertainties create loopholes resulting in more abortions later in pregnancy than voters intend.
Amendment 4 goes TOO FAR by allowing late-term abortions, far beyond when science says the baby is capable of feeling pain.
Amendment 4 would overturn current laws requiring a parent’s consent BEFORE a minor can have an abortion, thereby making abortion the only medical procedure that can be performed on a minor without a parent’s permission.
Amendment 4 pretends to “just bring things back to how they were with Roe vs. Wade” – but it actually goes much further – creating a constitutional right to abortion throughout all nine months with no protections for the unborn baby.
In Michigan, where voters recently approved a similar amendment, the same lawyers who wrote Amendment 4 are currently suing the state to force taxpayers to fund abortions. The same thing will happen in Florida if Amendment 4 passes.” - Vote No On 4 Florida
-
“This deceptive amendment purposely uses ambiguous language to mislead voters and advance a radical pro-abortion agenda. It claims to restore Roe vs. Wade but actually allows abortion throughout all 9 months of pregnancy without protections for the unborn. Key terms like “government interference” and “viability” are undefined, creating legal chaos, repealing necessary safety precautions, and giving unchecked power to abortion clinics. This unprecedented amendment will dismantle all Florida laws that protect women, minors, and the unborn, putting countless lives at risk and creating a perilous future for everyone.” - Keep Florida Prolife
-
“Current law requires one or two physicians to be involved. It would allow abortions right up to the moment of birth, with no protections for the baby. Unlike other constitutional amendments, Amendment 4 does not define key terms "healthcare provider," "viability", "patients health," and "government interference." While the amendment allows for parental notification, it eliminates current laws that require parental consent for their minor daughter to have an abortion.M aking this the only medical decision for which parents have no say.” - Do No Harm Florida
-
“AMENDMENT 4 IS DELIBERATELY DECEPTIVE! It is not what it seems! It will enshrine abortion until birth as a fundamental right in Florida’s constitution for virtually any reason up to nine months of pregnancy – even when babies can feel pain – yet the misleading language hides this reality. “No law shall prohibit, penalize, delay, or restrict abortion.” This language would legally trump and invalidate commonsense laws in Florida regulating abortion, including clinic safety and cleanliness regulations, ultrasound requirements, informed consent, and the 24-hour waiting period. Abortion would become the only medical service completely exempt from any legal medical safety and health accountability requirements and protocols meant to protect women’s health and safety.” - Florida Family Action
- “Florida Amendment 4, which will appear on Florida’s November 2024 ballot, is an extreme proposal that legalizes full-term abortion with no protections for the preborn child, including when the child is capable of feeling pain. This proposed amendment to our state constitution would prohibit all restrictions on abortion before viability and create a broad exception that any healthcare provider could exploit to allow abortion up to birth. Furthermore, the amendment would effectively overturn or seriously jeopardize common-sense state laws that have regulated abortion for years. These include basic health and safety requirements for clinics where abortions are performed, requiring a physician to perform abortions, informed consent requirements, laws limiting public funding of abortion, and parental consent requirements before a minor’s abortion. These risks demonstrate the extreme nature of the amendment.” - Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops
ENDORSEMENTS
Yes
FINANCIAL BACKING
The following information provides insight into the money being spent to pass or defeat the ballot measure.
Yes
Committees formed to SUPPORT the Right to Abortion Initiative (2024):
Selected Contributions TO: Floridians Protecting Freedom* committee include:
- Marsha Laufer
- Planned Parenthood
- Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation
- Open society Action Fund
- Tides Foundation
- American Civil Liberties Union
- Florida Advancement Project
- Florida Rising Together
- Donal Sussman
*TO VIEW FINANCIAL REPORTS BY COMMITTEE:
- Click on the link - this will bring you to the Florida SOS Campaign Finance Database
- Instructions for using the database can be found by clicking the link at the bottom of the page titled "About the Campaign Finance Database"
No
Committees formed to OPPOSE the Right to Abortion Initiative (2024):
Selected Contributions TO: Florida Freedom Fund* committee include:
- Patricia Duggan
- Floridians for Economic Leadership
- Michael Dearing
- Aubrey Edge
- POB Ventures
- Howard Cox
- Skyway Underwriters
- The Thomas S Monaghan Revocable Living Trust
Selected Contributions TO: Vote No On 4 Florida* committee include:
- Conservatives for Principled Leadership
- Archdiocese of Miami
- New Winter Trust
- Diocese of St Petersburg
- Diocese of Venice in Florida
- Floridians for Conservative Values
Selected Contributions TO: Keep Florida Pro-Life* committee include:
- Holly Boswell
- Alice Hanley
- Dale Hedrick
- Richard Slider
- Shore Line Construction
Selected Contributions TO: Do No Harm Florida* committee include:
- Florida Right to Life
- Mary Brock
- Lamar
- Michael Woodward
- OBA Trust, LLC
Selected Contributions TO: Life First PC* committee include:
- Goliath Ventures, Inc.
- Sea Breeze Pools, LLC
- Associated Industries of Florida
- Building a Better Florida
OTHER INFORMATION
Yes
No
- "The proposed amendment would result in significantly more abortions and fewer live births per year in Florida. The increase in abortions could be even greater if the amendment invalidates laws requiring parental consent before minors undergo abortions and those ensuring only licensed physicians perform abortions. There is also uncertainty about whether the amendment will require the state to subsidize abortions with public funds. Litigation to resolve those and other uncertainties will result in additional costs to the state government and state courts that will negatively impact the state budget. An increase in abortions may negatively affect the growth of state and local revenues over time. Because the fiscal impact of increased abortions on state and local revenues and costs cannot be estimated with precision, the total impact of the proposed amendment is indeterminate."
Lawsuit filed regarding state laws being broken during signature gathering for FL Amendment 4
